FORTALEZA, BRAZIL – Fabricio Werdum continued his rise up the heavyweight ranks while also proving that he hasn’t abandoned his jiu-jitsu roots, and he used an armbar to submit former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at at the 2:41 mark of Round 2.

If there was any doubt as to where Werdum wanted the fight, it was eliminated when he nabbed the first takedown moments into the opening round of the scheduled five-rounder. At first Nogueira managed to hold his own on the mat with the former jiu-jitsu world champion, but by the second frame Werdum seemed to be one step ahead in the grappling exchanges. After taking Nogueira’s back after escaping a failed guillotine-choke attempt, Werdum locked up the armbar and forced a verbal tap from Nogueira.

“He is, in fact, an idol for all Brazilians,” Werdum said of Nogueira via a translator after the bout. “It’s my second fight with him, and it was a tough fight. … I was able to get onto his back and get the armbar, and then I was able to make him submit. That made me very happy.”

Werdum suffered a decision loss to Nogueira at a 2006 PRIDE event but got his revenge in the rematch.

Werdum is ranked No. 5 and Nogueira No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight rankings, but those numbers may very well change as a result of their bout. For his part, Werdum followed up the victory by making his case for a title shot, saying, “I just want the UFC to give me the chance to show I’m the best in the world.”

Werdum (17-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has now won three straight in the UFC, and he’s undefeated since returning to the UFC in February 2012. Nogueira (34-8-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) loses for the first time since December of 2011, when he had his arm broken in a submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140.

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